Remus the Romantic
by IrethAncalime3791
Summary: When Remus decides that the Marauders should pursue entrepreneurship, chaos and drama ensue. Sirius deals with bad family blood. James tries to figure out this maturity business. Lily decides she needs to loosen up, so she experiments with dating.
1. Feel Better, Remus

**Remus the Romantic**

_Disclaimer_: Rowling's work is not mine.

_Chapter One: Feel Better, Remus_

Lily Evans sat in the library doing her Charms work when the four Marauders made their entrance. Her presence was immediately noticed by James Potter, who met her gaze briefly with his signature grin. Lily quickly looked back down at her essay, pretending to ignore him. James grinned to himself and turned back to his friends as they made their way to one aisle. Lily was able to hear bits of their conversation by listening carefully.

"We might be able to find some help here," Lily heard Sirius Black say, "though the really good stuff will be in the Restricted Section." Lily was feeling distracted after hearing that. She looked over at the group out of the corner of her eye.

"We can't get in there until later," James said dismissively.

"Are you sure any of _this _will help?"

"Some of it will, and frankly, Peter—" Sirius was cut off by James.

"Not to be brutal—"

"But you need all the help you can get—"

"Even if you're trying to achieve a simple one."

"Oh, all right then," Peter muttered, somewhat pink.

"Here's something," Remus Lupin said as he got down a book.

Lily wished Remus would say the title of the book, but she was disappointed. It might have given her a clue as to what the boys were up to. Lily looked back at her Charms, but it wasn't nearly as interesting as what those four might be doing.

There was more murmuring from the aisle, but Lily couldn't catch any of it. A while later they became again as loud as possible without being noticed by Madam Pince.

"I can't just work with this!" Peter exclaimed.

"Not to worry," Sirius said.

"I'll bet you there's a gold mine in the Restricted Section," James added.

"The fact remains that we need a teacher's signature to get in there," Remus reminded them.

"But that's simple enough," Sirius replied confidently. "Any teacher will give you permission, Moony." Remus seemed unsure.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm not all _that _responsible. You can hardly call me a teacher's pet, and McGonagall probably thinks you lot are rubbing off on me."

"You say that like it's nothing to be proud of," James noted. Lily snorted to herself

"Well how are we going to get a teacher's signature if Moony here doesn't think he can do it?" Sirius mused aloud.

"We know that no teacher in their right mind give _you _permission to the Restricted Section," Peter remarked dryly to Sirius and James.

"Oh, shut up," Sirius told him listlessly as he scanned the shelves.

"Hold on," James said. "I think I know how we can get permission." His gaze, which the others followed, lingered on a certain redheaded girl at the library tables. Peter looked somewhat smug, and Sirius and Remus glanced at each other with a grin and also looked over at Lily. She kept her eyes on her homework, trying not to let on that she had heard them. The boys proceeded to whisper for a few moments before strolling over to her table casually.

Knowing she couldn't avoid their gaze any longer, Lily looked up with a goaded expression to give the four seemingly innocent boys the impression that she didn't particularly want to talk to any of them. She didn't miss James mess with his hair as he comfortably planted himself in the chair next to her. Sirius took the chair on her other side as he leaned back and propped a foot on the edge of the table, earning a disapproving look from Lily. Remus sat on the table's opposite edge with his arms folded as he faced Lily from the side, and Peter merely stood next to Remus with his hands in his pockets. They all smiled flatteringly at her.

"What do you want?" she asked, feigning annoyance.

"Just to chat, Evans," James answered. Lily raised an eyebrow: something she often did around him. "Lovely day, isn't it?" Lily glanced toward the window that showed, indeed, a cheery thunderstorm outside.

"Spiffing," she commented dryly as she returned to her work. Remus shook his head slightly with an amused look.

"So…" James said, looking away from the window that taunted his intelligence, "hard at work, are you?"

"Well, I was."

"Lucky we found you," Sirius said.

"Isn't it?"

"Yes," Remus answered.

"You see, we have a minor plight," James informed her.

"Oh, that's easy. A simple Shearing Charm should do it," Lily answered, looking at his hair. Peter tittered. James glared him down, and he suddenly looked meeker than likely so.

"You see, we need some information," Sirius said, drumming his fingers on the table.

"From the Restricted Section?" Lily asked with a sigh.

"Sharp! How'd you guess?" he asked.

"You aren't exactly inconspicuous," she muttered.

"Either that or you were the slightest bit interested what we were up to," James commented with another toss of his hair. Lily closed her eyes to keep from rolling them.

"But anyway," Remus broke in, "yes, we need a few things from the restricted section. And if it's not too much trouble, we'd like you to get a teacher's signature for us." James and Sirius frowned at his bluntness, and Remus responded with a look that said "what?". James looked back at Lily.

"Yeah. What he said."

"No."

"Oh, come on," Sirius said.

"No."

"Why not?" Remus asked imploringly.

"Well," Lily started, looking up. She was slightly caught of guard by the pleading sound in his voice. "From what's on your records," she looked from James to Sirius, "it probably involves something nasty or cruel."

"It doesn't," Sirius responded quickly.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"What do we look like, a lot of ruffians?" James questioned back.

"You play the part well," she snapped. "And do you _mind_?" She pulled Sirius's foot off the table. "You don't own the place." Sirius looked disgruntled, but not at her last remark.

James tried a different route. "Look. We promise we're not out to bully anyone. We just need you to do us this favor, seeing as how responsible of a student you are." Lily raised an eyebrow once more. James caught Sirius's eye.

"Not to mention bright—"Sirius added.

"Oh please." Lily reddened a bit and lowered her eyes.

"—Charming," James said, causing Lily to blush a deeper shade or two. She once again tried to busy herself with her Charms essay.

"—Kind," Remus inserted. Lily could hardly bear the flattery coming from him.

"—Trustworthy," Peter piped up.

"_Enough!_" Lily slammed her hands on the table, making a loud noise that brought over Madam Pince.

"Quiet in the library!" Madam Pince hissed before returning to her desk.

The Marauders could not keep the smirks off their faces. Lily looked as if she would give in. She had no idea what they were up to, but it seemed as though they weren't planning anything horrible. And it had to be important, from the way Remus had sounded when he asked her _Why?_.

Lily looked up at him. Remus's look became hopeful, without a trace of arrogance. But she turned her head to James, who still sported a maddening smirk, and her insides suddenly boiled with anger. That arrogant look was more than Lily could bear.

"No."

The smirks were wiped from their faces. James suddenly became dead serious, and that only angered Lily more. _Too late_, she thought. James leaned over and looked her square in the eye.

"Lily. _Please_."

Lily returned his glare, but she was losing her resolve. James hardly ever called her by first name, and he never had said "please" to her before, or anyone else as far as she remembered. She continued to glare at him, ignoring the other three boys. Lily could feel Sirius's glare, Remus's hurt look, and Peter's disappointed gaze, but she kept her eyes on James, trying to stay angry.

They were all silent until Peter sneezed. He gave a mild look of apology and quickly glanced back at James and Lily.

Lily felt that she had said enough. She stood up and gathered her things, then stepped behind Sirius and walked out of the library without another word. The Marauders watched her go. James scowled and turned to Sirius, but his friend was busy studying Remus. The latter was clearly trying to not look disappointed but failing miserably. Peter looked at the floor sadly. James stood up.

"Come on mates. We'll ask someone else to get it."

They were all quiet walking out of the library. James somehow felt the true reason for everyone's gloom was not that they had to look elsewhere for assistance, but that Lily had refused them. Up until this point she had not been so unfriendly for quite a while.

_That Evans, _James thought irately, _she thinks she's so much better than us, thinks she knows everything, understands everything, but she just doesn't get it._

…

That night the mood had lightened considerably among the Marauders, but James still felt mad at Lily for her obstinance. Remus was absent for some reason, and no one knew were he was. Remus had just told them that he was going out for a walk.

James ignored Lily when doing homework in the common room as the others did, but not because he had nothing to say as they did. It was because he had everything to say to her. A couple of times James thought he caught Lily scowling at him, but he never looked long enough at her to be able to tell.

As the four trooped up to their dorm, James gave a final glance over his shoulder to catch Lily looking at him with a blank expression. He locked his gaze with hers, then abruptly turned on his heel and left.

Lily had made barely any progress on her essay, too absorbed in thought. She felt an urge to go back and tell them that she had changed her mind and she would get them the signature. This was mainly because it seemed so important to Remus, but it couldn't be that important if James and Sirius had difficulty keeping a straight face while asking for her help.

"Argh," Lily grumbled as she picked up her school stuff. She turned at the sound of someone coming through the portrait hole and found Remus stepping through it. He briefly glanced at her before continuing across the common room. Lily tore her gaze from him as she snatched up her essay. Unfortunately, in the process she upset her ink bottle and it toppled over the edge of the table, shattering on the floor. Lily looked up at the ceiling in silent frustration.

"Brilliant," she muttered. Remus, only halfway across the room, turned his head at the noise.

Lily sighed and pointed her wand at the shattered pieces, but before she had said the incantation Remus had walked over and said, "_Reparo_." The ink bottle was again in one piece. Lily looked up at Remus, but his eye was still on the ink mess. "_Scourgify_," he said, pointing his wand at the dark puddle, and it was gone. Lily stooped down to pick up the ink bottle, then stood up and looked at Remus.

"Hey," she said uneasily.

"Hey," he answered blankly.

Silence.

"Where were you?" Lily asked.

"Just out. Didn't feel like being in here."

Hesitating, she asked, "Did you get a signature?"

"Well, I was going to ask Flitwick for his, but I just…chickened out." The corner of Lily's mouth turned slightly.

"You? A Gryffindor?" This didn't amuse him as she thought it might.

"Well, not really chickened out…Just kind of got lost in thought."

"About what?"

"I guess about why it matters more than it should. And then I just wandered about and lost track of time. By then it didn't seem worth it." He was suddenly unable to meet her eye, so he turned his gaze to the fire.

Looking at him, Lily realized that he seemed somewhat worn. He looked drained and tired.

"…Remus?" He turned back to her.

"Hm?"

"…Are you alright?"

Remus blinked at her before answering with a sort of tired smile, "Yeah, I'm alright."

"You sure?"

"Well, I'm not feeling great, but I'll be better soon." Not wanting to be bothersome, Lily didn't ask again. It was a few moments before he spoke again. "Thanks for asking, though." Lily smiled in answer, not sure what to say. She then stopped and tightened her lips.

"Remus…why _does _getting into the Restricted Section matter so much?"

Remus stopped smiling and adopted a thoughtful look. After a few moments he looked out the window up at the night sky, exhaling deeply. A scowl overtook his face, but it disappeared when he looked back at Lily.

"It…it's not all that easy to say…but really, we aren't going to do anything to anyone," he told her quickly. "Well, we are, but not to anyone besides them—"

"So you're tampering with dangerous magic," Lily stated.

"It's for…sort of a project. And we're going to be careful. But actually it's more for the others, not me…though, they're kind of doing it for me…"

Lily found his answer so stuttered and choppy that it was nearly comical, but she didn't laugh at her friend. She realized that whatever they were doing must be really important somehow to Remus. With that in mind, she looked at James, Sirius, and Peter in a different light. It was almost…sweet.

"You know, it might be easier to explain if you said why they were doing it." Remus locked his gaze with hers. He searched her eyes as if taking time to make some decision.

"…The most I can say is that they want to help me…and just make a hard time easier for me. I can't really say any more than that."

Lily looked at him, disappointed. "Alright." Remus stared at her, looking very sorry.

"Look…today when we were shooting off compliments at you…I meant what I said. And I think what Peter said was true also. I know you're trustworthy…I just can't tell you this. I wish I could."

"Yet you can tell them," Lily said. She felt better after what he had just said, and her remark bore no resentment. It was curiosity eating at her now.

"Well, actually I didn't tell them. They found out."

"Ah. I can see that."

"Yeah…they have their gifts."

"They certainly do," Lily agreed, her expression turning sour. "Especially James and Sirius…I really don't know how you stand them." Remus leaned against the edge of the table.

"Ah, Lily…as far as Sirius goes, I can't deny he likes showing off. As does James, but…well, we both know why."

Lily turned pink. "Do we?"

Remus raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Yes, I think we do…and tell me, do you find him amusing at all?"

"I think it's _perfectly_ clear that I do _not_!" Lily returned defiantly.

"Perfectly clear…yes…"

"_Stop _it!"

"I'm sorry, but you could hardly be any redder, and I'm not talking about your hair—"

"_Shut up!_" Remus shook his head with a smile. "I swear, I'll wipe that gleeful look off your face!" She drew out her wand and pointed it at his face. Remus merely looked at it, then ignored it.

"Not what I'd say is the trait of a responsible student; in fact…going a little James-and-Sirius there."

"Will you _please _shut up about those two?"

"Oh, come on. Which one do you find more annoying?"

"Well…James. No—Sirius. Wait…oh, I can't decide."

"Which one do you find more attractive?"

Lily's eyes traveled to the ceiling in thought and returned before she briefly stated, "Sirius."

"Hm. Yes, I suppose the glasses and hair don't help James much. And to think that he doesn't know how ridiculously girlish he looks playing with his hair all the time."

"Now _that _I agree with."

"But, of course you notice." Lily quickly opened her mouth to respond, but thought it best to just shut it again. "Moving on…I think you'll like this one: most arrogant."

"…Sirius."

"Nicest when he wants to be?"

"I'm afraid that only you fit the category of 'nice,' Remus."

"Well, I am somewhat moved, Lily." He put a hand to his chest and bowed his head. He raised it again and said, "Alright, so tell me…are you passionately in love with James Potter?"

"_No!_" Lily declared readily, though Remus caught the smallest trace of a smile on her lips.

"Well, alright…it was quite a personal question anyway…" He tried to keep a straight face, but he was failing just as Lily was. "Now, I think it's time for bed."

"Yes," Lily agreed. The clock read ten after eleven. She put her books and essay in her school bag, knowing that she would be extremely tired in the morning. At the moment though, she didn't care.

"Greatly enjoyed our discussion. Good night, Lily," Remus told her.

"Good night." Lily turned toward the stairs to the girls' dorms and then turned back around. "Remus." He had nearly made it to the stairwell to the boys' dorms when he heard her. Remus looked over his shoulder at her. "I hope you feel better soon."

Remus gave her a smile that showed every sign of appreciation and gratitude. "I do. Thank you, Lily."

Beaming, she turned around and made her way up to her dorm wishing that James Potter could be just a bit more like Remus Lupin.

_Author's Note_:

Thank you for reading the first chapter of _Remus the Romantic_…now I would love it dearly if you all could be so kind as to leave a review with any constructive criticism you have to offer. Please say specifically what you liked or didn't like about the chapter, and why you did or didn't like it.


	2. Remus's Furry Little Problem

**Remus the Romantic**

_Disclaimer_: Rowling's work is not mine.

_Chapter Two: Remus's Furry Little Problem_

Remus made his way into the dormitory he shared with his friends, a bit of a smile showing on his face. Peter was sitting upright on the top bunk, apparently doing his best to finish his Transfiguration homework. Sirius was lounging on the one under him, lying down with his hands clasped behind his head and both eyes closed.

"What are you so happy about?" Peter asked dolefully as he unsuccessfully tried to transfigure his saucer into a tin box.

"What, is it not allowed?" Remus asked, his mind hardly on the response.

"Well, it is," Sirius answered, opening one eye. "It's just that it's around that time of month."

"How many times have I told you to stop saying that?" Remus snapped, pulled from his reverie. "It makes me seem more like a girl than James does flipping his hair all the time."

"Fair point," Sirius said, fingering his chin.

"Well anyway, just had a chat with the object of James's affection, and I feel pretty good right now."

"Really, what'd she say?" Sirius asked, interested.

"My favorite part was that she couldn't decide which of you two's more annoying."

"I'm flattered. I don't suppose you tried to persuade her to reverse her decision?"

"It came up, but I didn't ask. She was more curious about why we wanted in the Restricted Section so badly and why it was important."

"What'd you tell her?" Peter asked cautiously.

"That I couldn't tell her." Remus busied himself by rummaging in his trunk for his nightclothes.

"Couldn't tell who what?" James asked, coming out of the bathroom in his pajamas, toweling his wet hair.

"Evans, what we want in the Restricted Section and why it's important to Remus," Sirius answered promptly. Remus closed his trunk as James faced him.

"Really?" James asked inquisitively. The quiet afterward was too much for Remus to handle.

"Why are you all acting like I did something wrong?" he demanded.

"We're not," James said quickly. Remus noted that he could very well laugh at James's messier-than-usual toweled head, but he considered himself above such tasteless amusements.

"Yes, you are. Look, I didn't tell her anything. Except for a few choice items that frankly, I don't care to tell the three of you. And James, if you're so worried about other people up and asking Lily Evans out, go ahead and do it yourself."

James was suddenly speech impaired.

"I…that's…not what—"

"Typical," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Moony, simmer down. We weren't looking for a row."

Remus threw his pajamas over his shoulder and marched past James into the bathroom and closed the door.

"I say we _keep _calling it his time of month," Sirius remarked.

…

Remus woke up the next morning not feeling well, though this was normal for him. Everyday before a full moon much of his strength gradually left him and he felt a little sick. The effect it had on his mood wasn't a positive one.

"I wish I could just skip two days into my future self," he moaned in his bed.

"I know," Sirius said sympathetically, patting his shoulder. "Just take it easy today."

"And how exactly do I do that?" Remus grumbled, pulling the sheets over his head.

"Er…no trips to the library after classes…no homework…" Sirius listed various items on his fingers while he turned around to go pull on his robe.

"Thanks, but I'll already miss enough time for homework tonight."

"How about I write your Charms essay for you?"

"I don't know…" Remus sounded thoughtful under the sheet. "Wouldn't that be…tricky? Doing two different essays?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Remus, honestly—who are you talking to here?" Remus didn't answer. "So I'll do your Charms essay, anything else?" Remus still did not reply. "Moony? Hello…Remus!" Sirius rushed over to his bedside, but Remus pushed back the covers.

"Fine…just—gah…" Remus clenched his stomach. Sirius watched him, a hand on his back and concern etched in his face.

"Okay," Remus said. "I better get ready…We're both late enough."

"It's alright. Really."

Remus grunted. Life as a werewolf was horrible.

Sirius and Remus joined James and Sirius at Gryffindor table in the Great Hall a few minutes later.

"Alright there, Moony?" James asked quickly looking him over.

"Fine." Remus laid his head in his arms on top of the table.

The other Marauders watched him sit through his discomfort with great sympathy. Remus sat up and drank some pumpkin juice but was unable to take more than a few bites of breakfast.

Remus got through classes without anything unusual happening until lunch. By then he was so physically drained and emotionally stressed that he escaped to the boys' toilet for some privacy. He released some of his temper there, energy spent on kicking the wall and sink. It hardly made him feel better, so he sank to the floor. Immersed deep in thought, Remus began to imagine life as another person, or himself without the werewolf effects. During times like this, he envied his friends. They were lucky they didn't know this type of monthly cycle.

A couple of first years came in and eyed him warily. Remus glared at them.

"Well, get on with it then. Do your business and get out."

One of them had the cheek to say, "Why, you don't own this toilet do you?" but they both scurried along when Remus threatened them subtly by fingering his wand and cutting his eyes at them. After they left, he was once again alone. Then the door reopened. Remus turned his head to see who it was, and hurriedly got to his feet. Severus Snape stood at the bathroom entrance.

"Lupin," Snape greeted with a sneer.

"Snape," Remus replied.

"Fancy seeing you sprawled on the toilet floor like some poor dog." Remus didn't respond. "It seems that you have a chronic illness…I hope it isn't because of some…lunar effect."

Alarm filled Remus, but he tried to just pass off another grunt.

"Er…sure, whatever," he said, then left the bathroom. He certainly didn't want to be in there with Snape doing whatever Snape did in bathrooms…probably just used the toilet like any normal person. _But then Snape's not that normal of a guy_, Remus thought with a scowl. He then remembered what Snape had said about him being ill, and he rushed back to the lunchroom.

Remus rounded a corner and crashed right into Lily and a friend of hers.

"Sorry about that!" Remus told them hurriedly.

"Oh, we were running, we're sorry," Lily told him, getting to her feet.

"Well, okay then…see you—ugh…" He stood up as his head swam, and Lily glanced over him.

"Remus, are you sure you're all right?" she asked, sounding genuinely worried.

"Fine…just fine," he muttered.

"You're not sick, are you?" Lily's friend Alice asked with equal concern.

"Just a little. Um, I have to go—" He brushed past them. When he had returned to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Remus filled in his friends immediately.

"Guys, I think Snape knows!"

"Knows what?" James asked.

"That I'm a—I mean, you know!"

"Your furry little problem?" Peter offered, looking as though he thought himself quite clever.

"My…what? Instead of 'time of month' now it's 'furry little problem'?" Remus demanded of Sirius, who shrugged.

"It was James's idea," Peter told him, earning a glare from James.

"Personally, I think it sounds cute," Sirius said.

"_Cute?_" Remus fumed. "You—you have no idea what it's _like_!" He smacked the table and left, leaving three surprised friends behind. The smile on Sirius's face disappeared and he quickly left, followed by the other two. They caught up with Remus.

"Remus—stop! Look, I'm sorry." Remus glanced at Sirius and kept on walking, but he looked a bit calmer.

"Yeah, me too. I shouldn't take it out on you lot."

"I shouldn't have thrown it around like that, Remus," James apologized.

"And I'm sorry for repeating it," Peter said.

"It's okay. We can use it for a laugh later…when I _can _laugh."

"What did Snape say?" Peter asked.

"Oh, yeah. He found me in the bathroom and said something like 'Fancy finding you here, lying on the toilet floor like a dog.' And a wolf is a kind of dog."

Sirius and Peter glanced at each other, and James asked, "Was that all the slimeball said?"

"Well, after that he was like, 'You seem to have a chronic illness, I hope it isn't the result of some 'lunar effect.'"

"I'll take care of him," Sirius promised readily.

"No…it might be nothing," Remus said, suddenly doubtful. "Though if he doesn't recognize me for what I am, I have no clue where he got 'lunar effect.'"

"Come off it, he can't know," James said. After thinking it over briefly though, he said, "But he is really deep into the Dark Arts. He's got to be able to spot—" James faltered. Sirius glared at him.

"A Dark creature," Remus finished for him. There was an uncomfortable silence afterward.

…

After school was over that day Remus spent the afternoon in the hospital wing, and he was gone when Lily went up to visit him. Lily was cheerful going back to the common room, figuring that Remus was over whatever had ailed him. However, he was not there.

Lily sat down in a chair and sighed. She dropped her school bag on a table and looked out the window, glancing at the moon with a blank expression. Dropping her gaze, Lily leaned back in the chair and pulled out her Charms essay to finish it. A while later Sirius came in and sat down across the room to work on what looked like the same assignment. Lily was mildly impressed that for once he was not taking part in any of the common room disruption.

She returned to her essay and was nearly done when James and Peter stepped through the portrait hole with a load of books each. Lily wondered if they had managed to get in the Restricted Section.

Looking at her homework, Lily wondered again what the four could possibly be up to and why they were trying to help Remus. Could it have to do with whatever was making him sick? Were they planning on doing anything dangerous? What if they hurt somebody? But if they were doing it with Remus…it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Couldn't really find anything that good, but every bit helps I guess," Lily heard Peter tell Sirius.

"We know there's that book McGonagall talked about in class, _Complex Magical Transformations_," James said. "Maybe I could nick it, it would be easy." Lily narrowed her eyes. Anything to break the rules…

"Remus thought of that," Sirius said. "But he told me to tell you that's out."

James frowned. "Why?"

"He says that Madam Pince will notice after it's gone for a while, but I don't think that's why. My guess is that he thinks we're breaking enough rules as it is."

James gave a heavy sigh. "Honestly, does he think that bothers us?"

"Well, he was talking about Dumbledore yesterday…I think he's got a case of guilt." Sirius quickly scanned the room and Lily kept her eyes on her work. Their voices lowered and she was no longer able to hear them.

What did Dumbledore have to do with this? And _what _was Remus's problem?

A few minutes later Lily finished her essay and walked past them to go up to her dormitory. They were abnormally quiet when she came near, but she paid them no notice. She wanted to ask where Remus was, but she fought that urge and continued on.

…

The next morning Remus was at breakfast, still looking horribly tired. He looked happier though, and Lily was glad to see that. She didn't get a chance to speak to him though until she spotted him in the library during the afternoon.

"Hello, Remus, "she said pleasantly, walking up behind him in the aisle. He whirled and quickly shut the book, startling her. Then, seeing her, he relaxed and smiled.

"Hey, Lily."

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay, I was just reading a little too deep to be in the aisles. I have a habit of doing that instead of going to the table with a horde of books."

"I went up to the hospital wing yesterday, but you weren't there. Where'd you go?"

"Oh…Madam Pomfrey said I could stay in the dorms as long as I went right to bed. I slept all afternoon." Lily's smile faltered.

"Oh, I suppose you weren't too sick if you could leave the hospital wing."

"I was feeling better after Madam Pomfrey took care of me," Remus told her as he looked back at the bookshelf. Lily's eyes traveled over him, taking in his pale and wearied appearance.

"I'm glad to hear that," Lily said, though she was not smiling.

"…So, what are you looking for?" Remus asked her, trying to lighten the conversation.

"Oh, I was just going to the Muggle Section." Lily waved her hand at the aisle across the library. Remus gave half a smile.

"Is that necessary, with everything you already know?"

"Sometimes Muggle-borns are really interested in the wizard point of view," she answered. "When I started coming here, it was like…well, it was wonderful." Remus folded his arms, fascinated. "We Muggle-borns had always thought that none of this was possible, but wished it was." Remus cocked his head.

"Why?"

"We've heard stories our whole lives, fantasies that we loved as little kids. They weren't all like the sort of magic we learn here, but finding out that magic _is _real was like…to use the old cliché, a dream come true. A new sort of world." Lily seemed somewhat embarrassed saying this, as she broke her gaze with Remus and trained it on a book next to her.

"Well, I suppose that explains why Muggle-borns are often the top of the class," Remus commented with a grin. "You must have lots of fun with all our studies."

"Yeah. I like to read the textbooks…for fun." Lily tried unsuccessfully to hide a grin of her own. Remus chuckled. "But don't tell anyone."

"I don't need to, everyone probably thinks that. Looks like they're right."

"So…what sort of interesting material are _you_ looking at?" Lily asked as she scanned the shelves around them.

"Oh…just recent discoveries, things like that."

"Interesting. I should start doing that, and keeping up with what's happening."

"Some of it's really boring, but other stuff is good…new potions for common incurable diseases, new breeds of magical creatures, and pretty unusual stuff. Though, a lot of it isn't all that new—some of these books talk about developments made over a hundred years ago." Remus put back a copy of _Important Modern Magical Discoveries _with a sigh. Once again Lily noticed how worn he was.

They lapsed into silence and Remus finally said, "Well, I'm going to head back now. See you, Lily." He left and she was alone.

Lily turned her head once he was gone and found the book he had put back. "I'm too nosy for my own good," she murmured as she flipped the pages. Before Remus shut the book she had caught a glimpse of some picture. The pictures in the book took up a whole page, and she wasn't sure which one she had seen. There were grotesque pictures of things such as a woman clutching her hair while in extreme pain, people with their limbs chopped off, a werewolf, and a dead man. The section that went with the last picture, Lily noticed, talked about the debate surrounding a reversal spell to _Avada Kedavra_. It seemed that wizards spent more of their time arguing whether or not it should be done than making it possible.

_In fact, _Lily thought, _this book ought to be titled _Important Modern Magical Discoveries That Have Not Been Made _rather than the alternative_. According to the book, no cure had been discovered for werewolves as well as cures for various diseases and remedies for certain injuries. Before she put the book back, Lily had another look at the woman in unbearable pain. That illustration went with a chapter on the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. The woman's eyes were shut tightly and her mouth open as she screamed. The woman's face was wrinkled in agony and shrunken, making her look like a zombie. Lily closed the book and placed it back on the shelf, wondering why Remus took interest such morbid things.

As she left, Lily caught a view of the Restricted Section. She sighed and turned away grudgingly.

Mentally replaying the conversation, Lily wondered if Remus really had been up in the boys' dorm all along. He had been somewhat edgy when he was telling Lily that she was ill, and did not look well enough to have left the hospital wing just after a couple of hours the day before.

Lily tightened her lips. She wanted to know what was bothering Remus, but she knew she should respect his privacy.

…

James wrote the last sentence of his essay for Charms and dropped his quill as he sat back. He looked at his friends and asked, "Where's Moony?"

Peter was pinching his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger in thought while writing on his parchment as he answered, "Went to the library."

At that moment Remus walked through the portrait hole. James waved him over, and Remus joined them.

"So, did the library offer enough therapy for you?" Sirius asked. Remus's eyes flickered toward him then settled on the table as he shrugged. "Honestly mate, you can only read so many books." Remus chuckled.

"I keep hoping that they get new ones."

"Why?" Again, Remus shrugged. "Well, here's your essay anyway." Sirius handed it over to him. Remus grunted his thanks and proceeded to read over it.

"You did _his_ essay?" Peter asked Sirius incredulously.

"Excuse me," James broke in, "do _you _have a furry little problem?" A small smile graced Remus's lips as he glanced at James over his essay. Peter frowned and became quiet.

"Very good, Sirius," Remus said after he finished reading. "And James, by the way, saw Lily in the library."

"Really? What was she there for?"

"Well, you see, that's the place you go to find books that you need—"

"Ho ho, Moony's sense of humor is back. I mean, did she go there to see you or just poke around?"

"Apparently she finds the Muggle Section interesting."

"What does she need to go in there for? She's lived with Muggles her whole life."

Remus opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it. He thought for a moment and said, "That would make an interesting discussion topic, wouldn't it?" James frowned in response.

"What?"

"Come off it. You should really talk to her."

"Sure, I'll talk to her. I'll tell her to get us that signature—"

"James, really. You're going about the wrong way by hardly speaking to her and then coming off as an arrogant prat when you finally do."

"Just—just let me handle my problems," James said with a scowl.

"Well, alright. But if you don't start showing her a different side of you, she could start coming after someone a bit more humble…mature…" James turned away, his scowl still pasted on his face. "Like me," Remus added as an afterthought.

Sirius and Peter laughed at the swift change in James's facial expression as he sharply turned his head back to Remus, who was smirking. "Just kidding, mate," he told James, who quickly turned pink with slight embarrassment. "But…" he became serious, "I'm telling you: Talk to her. You're always at it like an old married couple, but you don't know anything about each other."

"Tell me, Remus," Sirius spoke up, "who made you such an expert?"

Remus merely replied, "I just watch from the sidelines." James muttered something incomprehensible. "What was that?"

"Nothing," James answered. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, it's suppertime," said Peter, gathering his things. The others agreed and put their books in their schoolbags before making their way to the Great Hall.

_Author's Note: _

I hope you all enjoyed the second chapter! Please review with one or two bits of constructive criticism and tell me specifically what you did and/or didn't like about the chapter and why. I really appreciate honest criticism because I want to learn as I practice and become a better fanfic author. Thanks to Erica, MySite, orangepenguin, PEF, and Laughing Dragoness for their reviews from last chapter!


	3. Classroom Disruption

**Remus the Romantic**

_Chapter 3: Classroom Disruption_

_Disclaimer: _The characters are not mine.

_AN_: Hey all. Sorry this took so long…but you liked the ficlets, didn't you? If you haven't read them, please go check them out. For now, hopefully you'll find this chapter entertaining…After you're finished, please leave a review containing constructive criticism. Also thanks to orangepenguin, Laughing Dragoness, PEF, Erica, MySite, sncaggie, dee, and Heaven's Flying Fish for your reviews last time!

_…_

Lily's chin rested in her palm as she took notes during History of Magic, engaged in the monotonous process of looking up, looking down and copying the writing on board, and looking up again to see the next point. The room nearly screamed with the silence of sheer boredom alongside Professor Binns as he droned and fulfilled his self-proclaimed duty to enlighten the current younger generation on events of the past. Lily glanced outside at the darkened sky and falling rain, wishing to be elsewhere. Listening to the raindrops hit the glass windows was proving to be much more enthralling. Perhaps the subject would be interesting if taught by another teacher, but when taught by Binns it was as dull as the dreary weather outside that day.

A row down to the side Sirius and James were speaking in low voices, and Peter was watching them, looking amused. James smirked and twirled his wand expertly around his fingers. His gaze flickered once or twice up toward Lily as he and Sirius discussed their next plan of action. Remus looked as bored as anyone while he took his own notes. He glanced at James and Sirius, catching snippets of their conversation.

Lily suddenly bent her head to sneeze. Bringing her head back up, she heard a chuckle in James's and Sirius's direction, but when she looked over at them they were taking notes as well. She squinted at them for a moment with her usual disgruntle, then turned back to her notes. A moment later she again sneezed and recovered. Another sneeze immediately took place, and after that another one.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked her. Lily tried to say "Fine," but still the sneezes came, and with unfailing force. After about five more sneezes, the fit finally ended. Lily regained her composure then looked down to see James and Sirius overcome with silent laughter. Remus combed a hand through his hair and Lily caught him pointing secretively at James, who had a hand hidden. She glared at him fiercely.

"Ignore them," Alice told Lily, fixing on the troublemakers a stern look of her own. This, as might be expected, did not help. James and Sirius still looked obviously pleased with themselves. Peter was laughing as well.

Still cutting her eyes at the juvenile group, Lily growled, "I don't know why they don't just grow _up_," At the same time, she envied their skill in jinxing. What she wouldn't give to be able to get back at them.

Lily chewed her lip in thought as she turned back to Professor Binns' notes, realizing it wasn't skill that she lacked. She knew plenty of jinxes and hexes that would terrify James Potter and Sirius Black into Disapparating to Pluto to escape her. What she didn't have was the nerve.

Since first year at Hogwarts, Lily had had the reputation of a rulekeeper. Almost all the teachers adored her for her obedience and hard work. They praised her, and some students begrudged her for finding favor with them. Most teachers, like McGonagall, strove for impartiality, but even she found it difficult to not wish that students like James, Sirius, and Peter were more like Lily.

Lily took pride in the fact that the teachers respected her, and she worked hard to excel in her classes. She enjoyed most of the subjects, being material that was fictitious and unavailable in the Muggle World, so it wasn't much of a task to study. Others saw her excellence as a gift that they wished for. Lily Evans was a person that other ambitious students admired.

Thinning her lips, Lily realized that if she took the route she wanted, that would change.

After Transfiguration began later that day, Professor McGonagall checked their progress on turning saucers into tin boxes and then passed out candles for the class to turn into long quills. She had exercised some of her usual good judgment by pairing Sirius with Peter and James with Remus.

While James and Remus were concentrating on the candle, Lily whispered "_Rictusempra!_" and pointed her wand at James.

James gave a little twitch and a giggle, and Lily could not resist a quiet one herself. She saw Remus give him a bewildered look and had to fight to keep from bursting out in laughter. Never had Remus looked so caught off-guard.

With a satisfied smirk Lily turned her attention to the candle, and while she did Sirius caught James's eye and nodded back at Lily with a grin. James followed the nod, found Lily, and looked back at Sirius with a grin of his own and a twinkle showing in his eye.

"So that's how it's going to be," James murmured.

Remus looked up from the candle. "What?" he asked, following his gaze and spotting Lily. "Oh, no," he groaned, sitting up. James was about to lift his wand when Professor McGonagall came to their table.

"Potter!" McGonagall barked, making him turn around quickly. "Attention here." She gestured toward the candle. "Let's see your progress." James managed to turn the candle into a quill with a wick at the end.

"Quality work," McGonagall muttered, looking it over in approval. "I expect a full transfiguration by the end of class from both of you," she told Remus and James. Looking over, she barked, "Black, what are you looking at?"

Sirius turned back sharply (he had been getting ready for a trick of his own) and replied, "Nothing, Professor," a little too innocently.

"Is that so? Let's see what you and Pettigrew have come up with." McGonagall strode over to them. James turned back to Lily purposefully.

"James, don't. You'll get us _both _detention," Remus told him.

"You won't get detention, Remus," James answered, turning back with an eyeroll. "But _she _will."

Remus looked at James hopelessly. "This is how you're handling it?" he whispered, keeping an eye on McGonagall when she came close.

"Why not?" James whispered back. He quickly turned to the incomplete quill to look like he was working.

"You _want _to make her mad, don't you?" Remus glanced at James in disapproval. James's lack of skill in communicating with females was beginning to get irritating.

"Just a little—she really should have helped us out," James grumbled. A hard look came over Remus's face.

"James, don't. She was right—"

"You're defending her?"

"Well, she was. We shouldn't be doing it." Remus looked away and focused on the candle.

"Come off it. You know you want to do it, it'll be so much better with us around." Remus just _had_ to develop a conscience every once in a while, James thought. It was a good thing that it didn't apply to homework though.

"There's too much that can go wrong, and what if the Ministry finds out?"

"Oh, pooh—they won't."

"James…seriously! _What _are you laughing at?"

"Hee, heh-hee heehee," James giggled while he twitched and pointed at Lily, who was sporting an amused look with her wand up. She desisted, and James stopped laughing. He looked at her furiously and raised his wand.

"James, no!" Remus hissed as he tried to grab James's wrist, but James quickly moved it to wave his wand as he murmured, "_Ceruleo_!"

Lily and Alice gasped and Lily grabbed at her hair quickly. It had changed from a natural red to a shockingly bright blue. Remus, Sirius, and Peter stared with open mouths first at her, then quickly glanced at McGonagall to make sure she hadn't seen.

Lily turned around in anger to the back, but Professor McGonagall's back was turned while she was talking to students in the back, who were smothering their laughter while trying to not draw the professor's attention to their classmate. Lily whirled, her face red with fury; it contrasted nicely with her blue hair. She raised her wand just as Professor McGonagall turned back to the front to see what the class was goggling at. The professor's eyes widened instantly at the sight, but before she could say anything Lily said through gritted teeth, "_Magentium_!"

"EVANS!"

James's hair was suddenly a bright pink, and the class was suddenly overcome with hysterical laughter at both his hair and Lily's. Lily turned back to Professor McGonagall nervously, but still looking angry. James's hands flew to his pink hair.

"Professor! Will you _look _at this!" he exclaimed almost hysterically.

"I can see it clearly, Potter! It stands out quite nicely!" Professor McGonagall snapped. The class bit back their laughter in fear of her anger. "Wands away, both of you! And Pettigrew, wipe that smile off your face!" James and Lily begrudgingly put their wands away and sat down, stewing. "I'll speak to you both after class. Everyone else, back to work—and if you're so interested in Evans's and Potter's hair colors, I can do the same to yours!" This was met with silence as everyone returned to work.

Lily glared furiously at the back of James's pink head, but after a moment tried to console herself with the belief that James was hating his hair more than she was hating her own. Lily could sense Alice's eyes on her, but she looked down at the table so that she wouldn't have to communicate with anyone. Thoughts of torturing and embarrassing James whirled in her head, and she took a nasty pleasure in each and every one of them.

James looked murderously at the quill that Remus had just transfigured. He felt quite irritated that he was unable to do any magic; it seemed now that rather than let a major spell out of his system James's hand had developed an attachment to his wand. He fancied adding a few more colors to Lily's head.

Professor McGonagall kept a fierce eye on them while she wasn't checking students' work. After the bell rang the students filed out, some glancing at Lily and James with amused looks. Alice, Sirius, Peter, and Remus lingered.

"Out!" Professor McGonagall ordered them, and none of them hesitated. She waited until the door was closed then turned to the two culprits with her hands on her hips. "I don't care who started what, but _both _of you know better than to throw out unassigned spells in class! Unacceptable!"

Lily and James glowered at each other.

"That will be ten points from Gryffindor for each of you—" Lily looked less angry; she had expected more, "—and detention!" This increased the sulk present in both their faces. "Now!" Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and their normal hair colors were back. "I don't ever want to see a disruption like that again, understood? Even if it's not a dangerous spell! Just because you don't think it's _dangerous _doesn't mean unpleasant things can't come out of it!"

They both considered the former state of their hair unpleasant, but Lily and James only muttered, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good!" She marched to the door and jerked it open, revealing four guilty listeners outside. "To your next class!" she said vehemently, pointing out the door. Lily and James were only too happy to leave, and they wasted no time distancing themselves from each other. Lily and Alice quickly strode down the hall and James hung back with his friends.

"I _don't_ want to hear it," James growled. Sirius and Peter tightened their lips to hide their smiles, but Remus stared ahead with a somewhat self-righteous look that said, "I knew that would happen."

…

Lily stabbed at her pork chop.

"Argh! I hate James!"

Alice gave her a hug in sympathy and said, "That was excellent though, I wish his hair could have stayed like that." Lily grunted.

"We _almost _had the lead." Lily looked at the four hours glasses mournfully. Gryffindor's looked slightly less full than it had at lunch. Right now Ravenclaw was leading, and Gryffindor was under Slytherin. "Twenty points made more of a difference than I thought it would." She sighed, resting her chin on a palm. "Just how McGonagall can take points from her own house, I'll never know."

"We can get those points back, it's alright," Alice said consolingly. Lily grunted again. "What do you have to do for detention?"

"Don't know yet. Guess we'll get a note later. Blimey, this is my first detention ever," Lily said miserably.

"I'll bet it's James's hundredth one," Alice remarked. Lily gave a half-smile.

"Great, I've joined the class clowns," she said unenthusiastically.

Several seats down, James listened to his friends talking about Transfiguration. He would never admit it, but having Lily Evans retaliate so was humiliating. He had honestly not expected her to respond with such nerve. Usually she was the model student and would never sink to battling it out in the classroom.

Not that it was really _sinking_…but it certainly did put things into a new perspective. It had always seemed that Lily Evans could do no wrong in the eyes of a teacher. No one would have ever guessed it though, with McGonagall's reaction. James had a feeling that the episode would have been dealt with more unequally had it occurred in Potions with Slughorn.

"That was brilliant, that hair color was," Sirius complimented James.

"My hair was _pink_!" James snapped.

"Calm down, I was talking about what you did to Evans."

James sulked and kept from looking anyone in the eye.

"You looked simply dashing though," Sirius said with a smirk, ignoring the scowl.

"Shut up."

They proceeded to talk about other things and when dinner was over went back to the common room. Lily's and James's eyes met once or twice on the way, but in quick response they glared and looked away.

…

"We've got to mop all _this_?" Lily asked, sounding slightly hysterical.

She, James, and Argus Filch the caretaker of nearly ten years stood facing one of the long corridors. James, apparently used to tasks such as these, merely scowled. Filch stood behind them, glaring.

"That's right. But if I had my way, it wouldn't be simple chores for you. No one uses real punishments anymore…" Filch's grumbling trailed off.

"Simple chores? This will take forever without magic! And _what _are we supposed to do if someone comes walking through here?"

"Welcome to my life," said Filch shortly.

Lily looked quite sour.

James was quiet while he mopped, except to coldly order Lily to step aside when he mopped past her. She felt that angered her more than it should, but making her livid was a talent that unfortunately James possessed. Filch stood a way behind them, supervising.

Almost half an hour later Filch had to leave, summoned to clean up an atrocious mess Peeves had made that included bubble gum and trophies. Filch stomped away in outrage after he strictly ordered James and Lily to not to anything but mop (without magic) and to not even think of leaving until he returned.

"Now _that_ will take forever without magic," muttered James, running the mop across the floor.

"Then why doesn't he just _use_ magic?" Lily asked smartly.

"He can't," James replied, sounding well informed. "He's a Squib."

Lily remembered hearing the term amongst gossip shared in Gryffindor. "Oh," she said, feeling a little indignant that James knew something she didn't.

"It's the opposite of Muggle-born," James went on, appearing to mistake her response as a sign of ignorance.

"Yes, I _know_," Lily snapped. When she was speaking with someone like James, being Muggle-born was a touchy subject for her. It might have been because he was so conceited, or that he was pureblood. He did not, however, parade around the fact that he was pureblood like some of the Slytherins did. She gave him that.

"How do you know he's a Squib?" asked Lily, not bothering to keep her curiosity in check.

"When he takes you to his office as much as he does me and Sirius, you learn a few things." James sounded somewhat impressed with himself. Lily turned to look at him in disgust, and was unpleasantly surprised to find the mop moving by itself and James leaning against the wall with his arms folded and wand out.

"_What_—we aren't supposed to use magic!" Lily exclaimed.

"Filch isn't here," replied James carelessly.

"So? What if you—?"

"He won't be back for a while. Bubble gum is a messy thing."

"Honestly, what is it with you always breaking the rules?"

"What's with you and being so _perfect_?"

Anger boiled in Lily once more. "I'm not _perfect_," she told James indignantly. "If I was I wouldn't even be here."

"So you turned my hair pink. What a record."

"That's not what I'm saying, _Potter_." She spat out the name with utter contempt. "And who wants to be as much of a troublemaker as you anyways?"

"Anyone who cares about things other than being _perfect_," James mocked, making a face.

"Ugh!" Lily turned around in a fury and tried to maintain what little dignity she had left as she mopped the floor angrily. Unfortunately she slipped on the wet part and fell, so that attempt failed.

Filch returned about an hour later to find the hall floor completely mopped. He dismissed them with just a hint of irritation and they went back to the Gryffindor common room.

…

That night, Lily still had not gotten over her anger. It somehow infuriated her that James insisted on calling her perfect. Lily thought it seemed so wrong for him to use that word, when she was quite as imperfect as the next person.

Twirling a lock of her red hair around a finger, Lily scowled in thought. Why was it that James made her so angry? He was on her mind all the time, but not in a good way. Mostly she thought of ways she would like to get back at him for mocking her, and Sirius as well. Also Peter, just because he stood in the background snickering at James's and Sirius's pranks.

Remus Lupin seemed like the only gentleman in the world. He was kind to most people, and much of the time he acted more mature than James, Sirius, and Peter. His politeness also brought him a step above the rest. But then, why was he such good friends with the others? Why couldn't he find someone decent to associate with?

Lily rolled over, trying to empty her mind of all thought of both James and Remus. It seemed to work, until she remembered detention earlier that way. After that, she tried to think of something that didn't make her so angry. The first thought that came to mind was seeing Remus in the library, and she smiled at the memory of talking with him. The smile left Lily's face as she thought of something.

Lily stared up at the ceiling, realizing that she felt a certain sort of fondness for Remus Lupin.


	4. In The Mood

**Remus the Romantic**

_Chapter 4: In the Mood_

_Disclaimer_: I don't own the characters.

…

The next day was rather bright and sunny in comparison to the dank and dreary one before. James didn't mention Lily or the incident at all, and the others took his lead, though Remus privately thought that it was something to learn from.

Sirius, Peter, and Remus left their dorm without James, who told them distractedly that he would join them in a little while as he rummaged through his belongings for his robe, already in the rest of his uniform. They were surprised by the change in routine, but didn't think too much of it and left downstairs to breakfast without him.

James arrived late to breakfast because he had been to the library, when he knew no one beside Madam Pince would be in there. He secretively slipped into the Restricted Section and found _Complex Magical Transformations_, but refrained from removing it to respect Remus' wishes.

On his way out he came upon the Muggle Section. James remembered what Remus had said about talking to Lily and turned inside the aisle of bookshelves to try to find something helpful. He glanced along the titles and didn't find anything of particular interest, then left the library trying to think of something he and Lily could discuss other than the Restricted Section and her Muggle heritage.

James strolled to the Great Hall feeling somewhat bored, so he furtively aimed his wand at a Slytherin's robes and muttered an incantation. Seconds later, as he walked away, he heard the student fall to the floor. A small smirk landed his lips as the Slytherin exclaimed, "Bloody robes!"

As he made his way toward his friends James spied out of the corner of his eye Lily glancing at him, but he did not make an effort to meet her eyes. James continued walking past other students to the table at which he usually sat and joined the other Marauders.

"Where've you been?" asked Sirius, looking up as he sat down.

"Meandering about," replied James loftily. He took a bite of sausage and said no more.

Remus glanced at James, then continued to eat his breakfast and eventually his gaze wandered over to Lily. He stared at her as she laughed at something Dorcas Meadows said. Remus caught himself at what he was doing and quickly glanced around at his friends. James stared at the table, chewing.

The others gradually opened up in conversation as James kept busy with his thoughts. After a while the bell rang, signaling the students to another tedious day of classes.

…

"Just small snips, small snips, that's the ticket," the Herbology professor told the students. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff third years were together for Herbology class, pruning giant Venus flytraps as they all stood around a great rectangular table that held the specimens.

The idea was not to hurt the plants more than necessary to tame them. Several students worked nervously, flinching as the plants yelped and shuddered when too much foliage was removed. The plants had been given Sleeping Potion, but cutting them enough made them aware of their pain, even if they were unable to do anything about it.

"That'll be _small _snips," Sirius pointedly told Emmeline, who slightly blushed in embarrassment and did not answer. Her potted plant briefly whimpered in pain, but recovered and became still. After it did so, Emmeline resumed her work cautiously, glancing at Sirius with a frown when she realized he was still watching her to make her uneasy. He glanced at Lily on Emmeline's other side. Lily gave him a glare before rolling her eyes.

Sirius sighed. It was annoyingly hard to not get on girls' nerves.

"So, will it be Quidditch this afternoon?" he asked after turning to James. It was a Friday, and James normally spent Friday afternoons playing with Sirius since the regular season had not started yet.

"Definitely. Just look at the weather," James said, running a hand through his hair.

A snort came from Lily's direction at his habitual gesture, and James turned to glare at her. She smirked as she kept her eyes on her plant, and Alice shook her head with a curled lip. James frowned at the two and went back to work. Remus and Peter glanced from Lily to James, both fighting grins.

The six became silent as some Hufflepuff girls started talking about the Slytherins. Three girls discussed the offenses of a certain girl quite popular in Slytherin House but disliked by students of the other Houses.

"I don't see why Bellatrix thinks she's so on top of the world," Amelia Bones muttered with irritation as she snipped at her plant.

Sirius was unaware that his hands stopped working as he looked up toward the speaker. The other Marauders did the same.

"Really. The way she thinks she's Professor Slughorn's favorite student just sickens me," another Hufflepuff girl remarked.

"Especially since we all know who Slughorn's favorite student _really _is," James joined in.

Lily frowned in response to his remark. Professor Slughorn, who was the Potions teacher, did go on about Lily's evident talent a lot. It was believed by many classmates that James was only a slight bit jealous of the unending flow of compliments Lily received from Professor Slughorn, but almost everyone knew that she deserved the praise because she worked harder than James.

"Well, actually…" Amelia glanced at Lily. "I'd steer clear of her if I were you, Lily. She seems really bothered by the fact that she's outdone by…" Amelia chewed her lip.

"A Muggleborn?" Sirius offered.

"…Yeah." Amelia met Sirius's eyes, looking as though she wondered how he knew.

"Doesn't surprise me," muttered Sirius as he continued to work with his Venus flytrap.

"Wait a minute," Emmeline said, suddenly realizing something. "Bellatrix _Black_. You two aren't related, are you?" All the girls looked at Sirius, including Lily.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sirius answered, lifting his gaze once more. "Cousins." He seemed to say it as quickly as possible and brush it off, as though not wanting to draw attention to his connection with her.

"We're sorry," Amelia told him with a sniff. The other girls glanced at each other, still shocked, but didn't ask any pending questions so as not to appear nosy.

"Eh. Compared to my parents, she's manageable. But that's alright, since I've got James over here as practically a roommate. The Potters are seriously considering adopting me and permanently taking me off my parents' hands," Sirius joked. He turned to James and flashed a grin, and several girls smiled at the effect of his change in emotion. Many female students considered a happy Sirius an attractive Sirius.

"Quite right," James said, clapping a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Makes for great entertainment at home."

"What sort of things has Bellatrix said this time?" Lily asked Amelia. Sirius turned his attention from James back to Amelia, taking interest in the turn of conversation. He was surprised to just now hear about his cousin's apparent enmity toward Lily.

"I just overheard her talking about how she's figured out how to get around you," Amelia answered, lowering her eyes so that she was able to cleanly cut a branch off her Venus flytrap.

"Around me?" Lily laughed. "Was that before or after she told me to watch my back?"

"She's pretty bigoted," Sirius told Lily, who looked sobered at his input. "I've heard her trash-talk Muggleborns like there's no tomorrow." He clipped more twigs off the plant, not adding that his parents were worse. "Sometimes she and others seem like they're all talk, and maybe some of them are. But others will go to the extremes that you've heard about."

Lily stared at him from across the table, surprised that he was discussing the subject so seriously. More than that, he seemed…ashamed. The way he spoke while he didn't look at her gave the impression that he was trying to hide true concern.

Sirius met her eyes and quickly looked back down at his plant, not wanting her too think too much of what he was saying.

"Not all the Slytherins are purebloods like her. There's actually fewer Slytherins who are purebloods than they would care to admit. She does mostly stick around that crowd though, and so does Narcissa, my other cousin."

"You sure did get a lucky family," Alice commented.

"Sure did," Sirius replied, not sounding at all like he was glad. "But like I said, I've got James here," and again he brightened, "who, like me, is proof that not all purebloods are stuck-up scumbags." Sirius and James both flashed a smile, knowing that they were getting on Lily's nerves. Sure enough, Lily rolled her eyes again, but Alice responded with an amused smile. Sirius didn't notice it though; he remembered that Lily had said "this time." He'd ask someone about it later.

"So…does Bellatrix give Muggleborns _that_ much grief?" Remus piped up.

Or not.

"Half the time it's just empty threats," Lily answered loftily as she worked.

"And the other half of the time?" Remus pressed.

"She just pushes people around. Particularly first and second years. If it's anyone taller than her she just tries to pass off the holier-than-thou look."

"Why don't we see any of this?" James asked, wearing an expression of confusion. Instead of answering, Lily gave him a look that bore something that none of the Marauders could put their finger on: resentment, perhaps? James didn't know how to respond to the glare, so he just looked away. Remus met Lily's eyes with a half-smile, looking sympathetic. Lily turned her mouth a little, then went on with clipping her plant.

The smile Remus had given her suddenly reminded her of the feelings she'd established that she had the night before. Lily felt glad that she was surrounded by girlfriends at the moment rather than next to him. She wanted to think…about how she really felt. About how _he _felt.

How did Remus feel? He just thought of her as a friend, didn't he?

Lily stared at her plant, hardly thinking about the motions of her hands. Remus showed evident signs of _wanting _to be her friend; he always initiated conversation, always sympathized with her when others gave her trouble, even James. Especially James.

Her brows furrowed as she thought. If he was such good friends with James, why was he so quick to abuse him behind his back? Did Remus really mean it, or did he just say those things to support _her_? He had the nature of a gentleman and was always kind. Lily generally got the impression that he was joking when criticizing James…but he _always _did it.

It didn't matter, Lily decided. Remus didn't return her feelings. He _couldn't_.

Casually she looked up to him. He stood by James, who was holding two twigs and looked like he was speaking of something mischievous to the former. Remus cracked a smile and gave a chuckle.

Lily's jaw tightened, and she looked back down, returning to her work.

Why should that make her angry? They were friends, _of course _they joked around. But the slightly less sensible side of her said that if Remus really cared about being her friend and meant the things he told her when she was angry at James, then he would shun him and not stand for his nonsense.

It was silly, she knew, to feel that way.

That was why she needed to distance herself from Remus for a while. She needed to sort things out, to think about how immature and irrational she was being. It was just a mood; she needed time to herself to let it pass.

The silence was broken by a yelp from Peter.

"Hey!" he cried. The plant had slapped a vine around his wrist. It clutched him and began to pull.

"Oh no," Sirius said with a sigh. "What have you done this time, Peter?"

"I don't know!" Peter exclaimed as his friends rushed to him. James tried to loosen the plant's grip on Peter's wrist, and Sirius grabbed some more clippers.

"I think it's what he _didn't _do that's the problem," Remus said, looking amused. He held up a dropper that was almost completely full of Sleeping Potion.

James gave the dropper a glance before rounding on Peter. "You idiot, you were supposed to give the thing all of it!" He didn't try to hold in his laughter.

Peter's cheeks reddened. "The Professor said only a few drops!"

"No, she said only a few drops _wouldn't _do the trick!" Sirius said. He stepped back to let Remus empty the dropper into the plant's potting soil, and it gave a purr before falling unresponsive. The girls giggled as Peter pulled his arm from the plant's coils and out of its reach, wearing a nervous smile on a reddened face. He let out an embarrassed chuckle as his friends and classmates laughed at his expense, then made a fruitless attempt to regain his dignity.

"Next time, don't stop listening halfway through the instructions, Peter," Remus advised with a final chuckle.

Peter picked up his clippers and gave a mumble in reply.

…

_No son of mine is going to associate with Muggleborn filth!_

_Give it a rest Dad, there's nothing wrong with Muggleborns. They're cleaner than Kreacher at any rate._

_Kreacher knows his place better than you know yours!_

_I'm sure it'll make him downright giddy to know that._

_I expect you to take pride in your family heritage! You're a pureblood, so act like it!_

The Marauders were all on the Quidditch field playing, though they weren't playing actual Quidditch. Peter and Remus played as one "team" and James and Sirius were their opponents. Since they didn't make enough people for a real Quidditch game, they had to create their own rendition. Remus and Sirius played as something like a combination of Beaters and Chasers. James and Peter were both Seekers, though it was evident that Peter didn't share the talent that James possessed.

As the two Seekers swarmed through the air after the Snitch, Sirius and Remus Chased after each other and each tried to steal the Quaffle to score for their teams. Sirius was losing energy though, and his mind was elsewhere. He kept thinking about what the Hufflepuff girls had said in Herbology.

For three years he hadn't concerned himself with what sort of activity his Muggle-hating relatives pursued at Hogwarts. After the conversation in Herbology that morning, he could easily imagine Bellatrix and Narcissa being loathsome to the Muggle-born students.

Narcissa was a brat. Raised in wealth and groomed like royalty, she acted as though the world should conform itself to please her. She also relied on her good looks as a tool of manipulation, convincing smitten boys to bend over backward in granting her wishes. Pale and blonde with an elegant nose and gracefully shaped lips, she was considered attractive and alluring because of her phony sweetness (aside from her pampered princess personality) by many of her year. She was only a second-year though, so Sirius considered her hardly intimidating.

Not that Bellatrix was intimidating to him either, but she was a great deal more obnoxious than her sister. Lacking in all subtlety, she pointed out everything she deemed a flaw in Muggleborns. She was a fourth-year like Sirius and all his friends, which meant a bit of embarrassment for him in many of the classes they shared. He couldn't see how others found her attractive; like her sister, she seemed to hold a spell over quite a few Slytherin males. He had heard, much to his distaste, that she was only interested in older male students of Slytherin House though.

Family gatherings like winter holidays, memorials for old deceased family members, and significant birthdays were always a nightmare. For the past three years at Hogwarts he had done what he could to avoid them and keep in the dark that he was even related to the two. He lamented the fact that the secret was out now. Other students would now hear through the grapevine that Bellatrix and Narcissa were his cousins and possibly condemn him to the same reputation.

Sirius, hovering above the green field, was so lost in his memories of family shouting matches that while Remus was swooping down after the fallen Quaffle he was completely unaware of the Bludger coming at him.

WHAM!

Sirius was brought back to the present by the instant explosion of pain in his side. The Bludger got him at the bottom of the ribcage with such force that he would have fallen off his broom if he relaxed his grip just a little more. The Beater club fell from his hands, and he groaned in pain.

Remus retrieved the Quaffle and looked up to see Sirius drop the Beater club and lean over heavily on his broom. The short distance between him and the retreating Bludger helped explain things.

"Sirius!" Remus cried.

In an instant he was on his broom and soaring up toward Sirius. He tried to watch where the Bludger was going as he reached Sirius, who tenderly held his side. Together they lowered from the air to land as Remus watched for the Bludger to guard Sirius.

James and Peter looked down from where they were chasing the Snitch to see Sirius land as he was clutching his side. Remus called up to them to come down, and James and Peter abandoned the Snitch for the moment.

"Sirius, what happened!" demanded James after he and Peter landed.

"Bludger…" Sirius muttered. "And here it comes again."

They turned and looked up to see the Bludger flying toward them. James steadied himself and held out his hands, ready to catch it. The Bludger was there in an instant, and James grabbed it before it hit him. The force threw him to the ground, and Remus helped him wrestle it over to the chest where it was kept. With a little difficulty, they pulled it into place and locked it up. They quickly ran back over to Sirius and Peter.

"How could you get hit!" James exclaimed. "You had a Beater!"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go to the hospital wing," Sirius responded coolly, seething with pain. His hand was still at his side, but he only touched it tenderly.

"Sure, mate," Remus told him. He helped Sirius stand up and started walking with him off the field carrying both their brooms. The rhythm of Sirius's breathing was strained as he tried to not move his ribs much, and he tried to glide more as he walked. He made a mental note to look up how to conjure a stretcher later.

In all his concern for his friend, James forgot that he had left the Golden Snitch on the field. He figured he would try to get back later and grab it before someone else got on the field. What he couldn't stop thinking about was Sirius's sudden attitude. And how had he gotten hit? Remus had gone after the Quaffle, he knew that much. Sirius didn't have anything to be distracted by.

Maybe he was having an off day.

Madam Pomfrey, of course, demanded to know what they had been doing as soon as she saw Sirius's state. At first the only explanation he offered was "took a tumble," but she was sharper than he was, and more persistent. She finally extricated from him that they had been on the Quidditch field, and she didn't bother to hide her disapproval. As soon as his was one of the many beds lined up in the room she offered her authoritative criticism.

"You're supposed to have permission to be on the Quidditch field," Madam Pomfrey reprimanded as she used her wand to conjure his bandaging. He lay still as he listened to her, trying to bear both the pain and annoyance.

"Madam Pomfrey, I think I'm hurting enough to go without a talking-to," Sirius said with a grunt of pain.

She decided to let him off with a final glare as she lifted her wand, and let him know that she would be telling McGonagall. She then disappeared to get some SkeleGro for the two ribs he had broken.

"Dandy," Sirius muttered.

"What do you think McGonagall will say?" Peter asked, voicing their mutual fear. McGonagall had been outraged by James and Lily's classroom disruption, and they all could picture the same if not a worse reaction to this situation.

"That this is exactly why you need permission on the field, even though players have permission and get rammed all the time," he answered. "Then she'll take away about a hundred points from her House again." He looked out the window at the darkening sky, lamenting the interruption during their game. "Sorry to cut the game short, mates."

"We would have had to stop soon anyway," James said, noting the fading daylight at the window.

He rose and slowly began walking away. "Sorry, but I need to go get the Snitch. I forgot it."

Sirius raised his head. "How could _you _forget the Snitch?" he asked, amused. They all were of the opinion that James had a borderline unhealthy obsession with Quidditch, and forgetting to retrieve the Snitch seemed strange for him, even in the midst of the chaos with Sirius's injury.

"Well I was kind of busy worrying about you," James replied nonchalantly. "Don't worry, I won't abandon you to escape the wrath of McGonagall."

He turned and walked away to leave the hospital wing as Madam Pomfrey returned and poured a small cup of SkeleGro for Sirius to drink from, at which Sirius wrinkled his nose.

"Gross," he mumbled with disgust.

Madam Pomfrey looked down her nose at him and said, "Recklessness pays, Black. And it's not even that bad." Sirius rolled his eyes and held his breath as he swallowed the cupful. He gave it back to her.

"You'll need to stay for an hour, and then you'll be completely healed. SkeleGro might be nasty, but it's powerful."

"That's good to know," Sirius said.

By dinner the injury was completely healed, and Sirius felt like his old self. However, laying in the hospital bed had given him more time to think about Bellatrix—before McGonagall had gotten there.

When McGonagall arrived, Sirius glanced over to her as she strode over with a very straight face. Remus sat very still in his chair as he watched her. Peter looked terrified.

McGonagall fixed her eyes on Sirius as she stopped at the foot of his hospital bed. Her icy stare welcomed no excuses, though it was clear she was weighing his injury against her need to reprimand him. Sirius swallowed and offered a sheepish grin, which did not bring out a smile from her.

The doors to the hospital wing opened, and the four turned to see James entering, his fist clutching the Golden Snitch.

"Got it—" he exclaimed happily, raising his fist, but stopped short when he saw McGonagall. She raised an eyebrow, looking extremely displeased.

James had promised not to run away from the punishment they received, and he remembered it, slowly making his way to them. Stopping in front of McGonagall, he produced a bright smile and held up the Snitch.

"And in the dark too," he remarked with pride, attempting to charm the Quidditch fan within the professor. As Head of House she took pride in the talent of her team's Seeker, but she showed no sign of pleasure as she held out her hand. James released the Snitch to her.

"Well," she said, turning around the gold ball while examining it, "what shall I do?" She lifted her eyes and met James's gaze. "Clearly your latest detention took no effect."

"Not entirely true, Professor," replied James. "You'll find that Evans has kept the same hair color all day."

McGonagall looked less than amused.

"You have complete disregard for the rules. All of you," she said, turning to the others. "I think your injury suffices, Black, as your discipline."

Sirius nodded as respectfully and appropriately as he could in response from his bed.

"And you," McGonagall said to Remus, who looked up at her from Sirius, "I'm disappointed with." Remus made no response, but cowered on the inside. For some reason, those words from her almost seemed worse than a week's worth of detention. "You've shown great integrity in the past, but your judgment seems to fail when among your peers. I'd like for you to consider that."

"You," she said, turning to Peter, "seem to have the same problem. Do try to not be influenced so easily."

Peter looked down and kept silent as McGonagall turned back to James.

"Potter, I don't like to make threats, but this is a _promise_." James stood still as a statue as McGonagall stared him down. "If I hear of you on the field without permission again, or throwing spells at another student, or breaking _any _sort of rule, you are _off_ the Quidditch team."

McGonagall walked around him, leaving him open-mouthed. She turned back to make one more comment.

"I will be informing Professor Dumbledore of this and my decision of response. There will be other punishments for the rest of you if you're caught out of line again. And know that I _will _be watching." She then turned back around and walked away to exit the hospital wing.

…

"For just being on the field," James growled furiously. "Because it was after yesterday."

The others supped in silence, unresponsive.

Chewing his lip fretfully, James wondered how long he would last. The Quidditch season had not even started yet, and he was on probation. One step out of line and his Seeking days were over. He would never make the whole season with a clean slate.

He hadn't ever gone a week a Hogwarts without cutting some sort of corner with Sirius. If he didn't follow the rules perfectly, McGonagall was sure to notice.

Remus thought this over as well. He replayed what McGonagall had told him. Basically, she had said that James and Sirius were a bad influence on him and Peter. Honestly, he felt that was true.

James and Sirius insisted on "living life on the wild side," not giving a thought to consequences. Whenever Remus started talking about what could happen if they got caught, they brushed him off and he ended up following along with whatever they were doing.

_I'm too involved with their stunts_, he told himself sensibly.

It was time to leave James to fend for himself. He had to learn some way, and it wouldn't happen by Remus picking up after him. The same went for Sirius. No more joining in their fun when it didn't seem respectable. No more practical jokes, no more thumbing his nose at the system.

Having decided that, Remus felt a bit accomplished.

Behind them Remus spotted Severus Snape making his way out of the Great Hall. The solitary Slytherin student walked quickly and with purpose, speaking to and looking at no one as he left. The Marauders saw that Remus was eyeing someone and followed his gaze.

As Snape disappeared behind the closed doors, they turned back to Remus.

"You know, we could use a Memory Charm on him," James suggested lightly.

"We don't know what exactly made him suspicious though," Remus countered. "You have to know what memory you're closing off." He didn't add that McGonagall had said she didn't want to hear of him "throwing spells at students." He wanted to wait for James to recall that himself.

"So let's kidnap him, Confund him, and toss him out in the middle of nowhere never to be heard from again and be done with it," Sirius responded. He took a sip of pumpkin juice, concluding his two cents. Remus stared at him, unamused and exasperated.

"You _do _realize," he said, sounding very much like one speaking to a four-year-old, "that if Snape truly knows about me and took it upon himself to inform the student body that a werewolf attends Hogwarts, hundreds of parents would be somewhat furious and make every effort to have me put out." He made sure to lower the volume of his voice a bit at the word "werewolf," just to be sure that no one heard. "Not to mention that we've been told what will happen if we're caught breaking anymore rules."

James, Sirius, and Peter glanced at each other, reminded of the gravity of the situation. They sat in silence, now trying to produce a serious solution to the matter. Remus drummed his fingers on the table worriedly.

"Could talk to Dumbledore about it," Peter said. Sirius and James glanced at him, then at Remus, who stopped drumming his fingers.

"I want to be sure before bringing him into it," Remus said thoughtfully. "And I don't want him thinking that I'm paranoid about every possible person finding out."

"If you don't know, go," Sirius murmured thoughtfully, staring at the table. He now seemed to be in deep consideration of something.

This didn't quite make sense to the others. Peter, evidently doing his best to work it out, furrowed his brow for several moments before giving up and turning to Sirius, asking "What?"

After poking at his mashed potatoes then gobbling some of them down, Sirius explained.

"Remember Victoria Jones?" he asked.

Did they remember Victoria Jones. Of all the questions to ask.

Victoria Jones, they recalled, was Sirius's last girlfriend, and probably the reason that he hadn't gotten with a girl in a while. Her relationship with Sirius during the previous summer was brief, but longer than the other three would have liked. When he first introduced her, he had to pull his face away from hers, revealing his smiling blood-red smeared mouth.

"Oi, everyone. This is Victoria," he told them.

They all eyed her, somewhat speechless. She gave a sultry grin before turning back and sticking her tongue back down Sirius's throat.

Peter had never been able to work his mouth to properly form words around her. Remus was more polite than friendly with her, and a little stiff. James had openly disliked her, mainly for the reason that he feared she was stealing his best friend away from him. Victoria had not bothered to keep it a secret that she thought him well beneath her.

She didn't go to Hogwarts, as her parents were a bit odd. They were Muggles, but they were also a walking collection of tabloid conspiracy theories and didn't want their daughter attending an established institution, so they home-schooled her. Sirius had only met them once, and told the others, "You are so lucky you didn't have to have dinner with those nutters."

The few times that Sirius spent with his friends while he had gone out with Victoria, he had brought his new girlfriend along. This would not have bothered the others as much as it did had he not spent those times snogging her for long periods. Remus and Peter had found it an embarrassment to be in public with the two, and James became merely sulky whenever Victoria showed up.

When Sirius stopped bringing her around, he stopped coming around himself, little by little. Finally, after two weeks since Sirius and Victoria had first gotten together, James released an outburst in the dorm room that revealed his opinion of Victoria, being that Sirius was so busy with her that he didn't have time for his friends anymore. The latter became angry at this, which resulted in a three-day-long silent treatment.

During that time, Remus discovered through Lily, who discovered through Bertha Jorkins, a large gossip at Hogwarts, who reportedly overheard Victoria and her friends in the girls' toilet at a gathering in Diagon Alley discussing Victoria's trouble with "juggling" her two boyfriends.

Since Sirius and James weren't speaking, it was decided that Remus would break the news to their friend. Soon after, Victoria's juggling problem was solved for her.

"What about her?" James asked warily after recalling the incident.

"Well," answered Sirius, setting down his fork, "a little while after Remus informed of her…problem…I came into contact with her, uh, other boyfriend." Sirius pursed his lips and continued. "You all know that she's Muggle-born, and it turns out that the bloke was a Muggle. He was something that they call a lifeguard."

"What's a lifeguard?" James asked.

"I'm thinking someone who guards people's lives," Peter responded facetiously. James rolled his eyes impatiently.

"That would have _never _come to mind."

"Apparently Muggles like to swim in the summer like us," Sirius explained, "but they aren't that good at it. So they have people called lifeguards to watch them swim. If they start to sink, the lifeguard jumps in and saves them. The bloke Victoria was with, named Humphrey, said that sometimes it's hard to tell whether the person is messing around or really having trouble swimming. Muggles like to play tricks, you see."

"I can't imagine," Remus commented dryly. "I've forgotten what this has to do with me."

"Well, Humphrey told me that lifeguards should jump in if they suspect at all that the person is drowning. He said the rule is, 'If you don't know, go.'" Sirius looked up from his plate to Remus. "The moral of that very long and inapplicable story is that if you think Snape knows, go talk to Dumbledore. Maybe you're wrong, maybe you're not. Better safe than sorry."

Remus looked at James and Peter, who shrugged.

"Makes sense to me," James remarked. "Get to Snape before he gets to you either way."

Remus looked away in thought. He didn't really see how Snape didn't know when he remembered what the filthy git had said in the toilet…but maybe Snape wasn't really that sure. Maybe he had only said it to be annoying, and it was based on a small suspicion that would only be confirmed by Remus acting alarmed. If that was the case, and Remus took it to Dumbledore, who asked Snape whether he knew something, then wouldn't Snape be even more pressed to find out?

After Snape really found out, then what would he do? Tell the world? Use the information for blackmail? Torment Remus for the rest of his life?

"I really don't see what's wrong with just telling Dumbledore," Peter said. He seemed a little irritated that his idea wasn't welcomed with open arms, as the rest of his normally weren't.

Remus didn't answer, sighing and looking away as he propped his hand against his chin. Of course they didn't see. They didn't live every day worrying over letting something slip. They didn't harbor a fear of saying one little thing that would lead to a thousand suspicions.

They thought the whole thing was an adventure. That was why they wanted to carry out the big plan…which was _majorly _breaking the rules.

"I've got to go do something," Remus announced abruptly.

The other three, surprised, watched him stand up from the table and hurry to make his way out of the Great Hall. Remus didn't look back at them, and when he passed the table where Lily sat with her friends he didn't meet her gaze. The witch saw that he looked upset.

As Remus hurried out the Great Hall, James thought of something.

"Sirius?" he asked.

"Hm?" the latter replied. Sirius looked up from his plate curiously.

After biting his lip, James asked him, "How did you, ah, 'come into contact' with this Humphrey, exactly?"

Sirius glanced at his friend before answering. He ran a hand through his dark hair and gave a sigh, then propped an elbow on the table and leaned his cheek against the back of his hand.

"I didn't really believe Remus," he answered dejectedly. James furrowed his brow, confused.

"You mean about what Jorkins said?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered. "So I went to find Victoria and talk to her about it. I found her at her Muggle neighborhood pool…where he worked."

It didn't take much for James to see how that could have ended. He continued to listen.

"I saw them together, and no one could say that they weren't _together_." Sirius sat up and looked James in the eye. "Please tell me I didn't always have red rubbish on my face like that."

For a moment, James considered not answering. His eyes met with Peter's, who then looked away, not giving any sign that he wanted to join in. James was left to answer Sirius himself.

"Well, after a while I got so mad that I just didn't care to tell you. It didn't matter anyway. It would have taken you forever to get it off with all the snogging you two did."

Sirius stared at his plate in thought, waiting a moment before answering "I guess."

Seeing his friend as depressed as he obviously was told James that he didn't need to say anything more on the subject. Especially after what he said next.

"I'm not letting that happen again."

James smiled faintly.

"Good."

Peter stared at the two of them as he picked at his food with his fork.

"The warm fuzzies are especially overwhelming today," he remarked dryly.

Sirius turned to Peter and threw an arm around James's shoulders with a huge grin.

"If you've got a problem with the warm fuzzies, feel free to leave, 'cause they're not going anywhere."

…

At first Remus wasn't certain of where he was going. He didn't want to speak to Dumbledore just yet. Mainly he wanted to be alone. Lately he had found his friends to be somewhat suffocating and taxing, what with their inability to take many things seriously. Sometimes Remus needed a break from the carelessness.

While walking through the hallway, he became aware of the fact that he was wandering aimlessly. He wanted to get something accomplished. Immediately he thought of the library, but Remus decided it was pointless. After a few moments' worth of inquiry and searching, his small hopes were always dashed.

The last he had made his round, Lily had nearly scared him out of his wits. For the love of Merlin, he'd had the book right open to an illustration of a werewolf! Remus still wasn't sure that she hadn't seen the picture. If she had, then she didn't seem to have connected the dots. Perhaps she was so busy loathing James at the moment that she had forgotten his…issue. He just hoped that she wouldn't hear the words "furry little problem" for a while.

Remus turned his thoughts over to the decision of what to do now. The library was out. Should he go see what Snape was up to? This brought up the small problem that he had no idea which direction Snape had taken. As Remus deeply pondered how to solve this, the sound of a large splash was heard from around the corner.

"PEEVES!"

A mad cackling filled the hall, alerting Remus. He picked up his pace and hurried to the end of the hall, stopping just where the wall ended so he could peek around the corner.

Peeves, the prankster ghost at Hogwarts, hovered in the air while laughing unkindly at the student who had just fallen victim to his water balloon.

Taking a closer look, Remus saw that the student was Lily. Her hair was now dripping wet, and the top of her robes was damp. She looked furious as she glared up at Peeves while he flipped midair in laughter. The ghost floated down the hall, chanting "Lily Evans, wet as a lily pond," and disappeared.

"Ugh," said Lily in disgust and exasperation. She examined her wet robes and pulled out her wand. Remus watched as she pressed it to her shoulder and began siphoning the water out of her robes.

He stepped around the corner, allowing himself to come into full view.

"Let me help you with that," he said, walking toward her.

Lily looked up in surprise, and she relaxed at seeing him. It seemed she was even too irritated to even offer him a smile though. Remus noted that when he reached her and went ahead to pull his wand out, watching for a sign of welcome or no. Lily didn't protest when aimed the tip of his wand at her shoulder, so he proceeded.

"I pity you," he remarked, striking up conversation.

"Why is that?" she murmured irritably, turning around to let him dry the back of her robes as she took care of the area about her upper female anatomy out of his sight.

"You don't think detention with James and now becoming a victim of Peeves is enough of a reason?" Remus asked, the corner of his mouth turning up.

Lily sighed, finished drying her front, and he quickly dried the rest of her back. When he was done she turned around and gathered all her hair in a ponytail, then siphoned the water from the end of it. As she did so she locked her eyes with his.

"Remus, why are you his friend?"

The question caught him off guard for a second, then he lifted his eyes in thought.

"To tell you the truth," he answered, "I don't consider my relationship with Peeves one with depth."

He waited for Lily to smile, but she only scowled. Obviously she wasn't in the mood to joke.

Everyone was low in spirits today.

Looking away for a moment, he considered the question. He and James were friends because the latter had exceeded the expectations that Remus had had for anyone that would welcome him at Hogwarts. Before James had learned Remus's secret, Remus had thought of their relationship as one that remained on the surface. He had never believed that James would accept him for what he truly was, and he had thought that Sirius and Peter would react the same.

But no. The three had meddled—out of concern or sheer nosiness Remus wasn't sure, but he considered that irrelevant—and succeeded in learning the reason for his monthly absence. Still they desired to be his friends, his comrades. And now they were trying to find a way to keep him from being alone in his time of misery.

Remus met Lily's green eyes again and smiled faintly.

"He's exasperating, I know. But he has shining moments."

Lily made no reaction except to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure I believe you," she said, and with that turned to walk away.

The witch had a tendency to be in a sour mood, but her behavior seemed odd to Remus. Normally she would respond to him with a smile and more light-hearted attitude, and he would be able to cheer her up if she was annoyed or low in spirits, but at the moment she didn't even seem to be happy with him. Was it simply because he insisted that James was his friend?

It seemed a small injustice if that was the reason, and if it wasn't then Remus wondered what. Could he have done something to set her off?

As Lily walked away Remus began to follow, wanting to find out why she was acting so unhappily. Their footsteps echoed throughout the large, magnificent hallway, bouncing off statues.

"Is something wrong?" he asked behind her, trying to not press buttons.

Lily heard the question and hesitated.

"Sort of." She sounded thoughtful, and sad.

The answer was unfairly vague to Remus.

"You…want to talk about it?" Remus asked uncertainly.

"Not really," came the response. Lily didn't look back or wait for him to catch up, and Remus was getting rather bothered.

"Are you angry with me?" he questioned directly, losing the patience to ask more general inquiries.

Finally Lily stopped. She didn't turn around.

Remus quickened his pace and reached her, coming around to face her. He stopped and waited to hear what she had to say. He thought her green eyes seemed a bit empty when she lifted them to meet his.

"No, Remus. I'm not angry with you."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Like I said, I don't want to talk about it," Lily repeated. "I'm sure you of all people can understand that."

It seemed to click just then. He had withheld a great secret from her when they were close friends, and that must have hurt her. They had become friends through various circumstances over the years, growing in trust and care for each other. Yet it was James, the person she loathed, in whom he had confided.

"Look, Lily," Remus began, "I know it upsets you that I can tell James something I can't tell you, but I'm really sorry, and I needed you to respect that—"

"Remus—" she said, her eyes flashing now, "—this isn't about that. I know that James is your friend. Not sure why, but that's another matter. And I know that there's probably plenty of things you tell him that you don't tell me. I respect your privacy." She paused, searching both his eyes, softening a little. "Please do the same for me."

It was an advantageous card for her to play. He had a secret that he had made clear would be untold to her. Now she had something to keep from him, and it would be hypocritical of him to continue to dig when he had no intention of clueing her in on the skeleton in his closet.

Nothing more was said. She didn't take her eyes off him, but he knew the conversation was over. He backed off and nodded, letting his gaze fall to the stone floor.

Without a sound Lily stepped around him and continued to make her way down the hall, leaving him where he stood. He watched her walk farther away, feeling like he had lost something important.

…

I hope you all enjoyed that nice, looong chapter! I worked hard, tweaking and changing it, trying to get the flow and description right. Hopefully you all got a nice picture of some issues coming up.

Please review and tell me how you liked it. If you've got constructive advice, I'll be glad to hear it!

I apologize for not leaving individual replies to each review for the last chapter. Thanks to all of you who have been keeping up. Next time I'll post review responses. Please stick with me as I get the rest of this story out!


	5. Gold

_Author's Note_: I am back from a very very very long hiatus. I honestly didn't know that I would ever come back to this. This chapter and mostly the next have been written and saved for a long time, but I never really considered them worthy of posting. I come back to you inspired by the lovely writing of some other people, both fanfiction and orginal work. The next two chapters are not as dazzling as I would like, but after that I will be doing my best to put out work that shows a growing skill.

…

**Remus the Romantic**

_Chapter 5: Gold_

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the characters.

A search for a place of serenity, solitude, and quiet was what brought Lily to the library. Her girlfriends never followed her there; they claimed that they just weren't into books. Lily would be able to have some peace and time to think.

She entered the large room, looked around listlessly, and made her way to a table and sat down after pulling out a chair. Once seated, she gave a tired huff and laid her head down, touching her forehead to the tabletop.

Finally she could relax for a moment. She closed her eyes.

"Lily?"

…

The other Marauders found Remus at a table in the Common Room working on a Potions essay. He looked up briefly at their arrival before resuming his work, not giving any sign of wanting to rejoin them.

James and Peter decided to go on up to the dorm. They made their way past Remus, who didn't look at them. Sirius stayed behind.

The quill continued to scratch the parchment, and Sirius pulled out the chair across from Remus. He sat down comfortably and leaned back, looking out the window. Remus wordlessly glanced up to watch him. His friend seemed to be in deep thought.

"Something bothering you?" Remus asked quietly.

The other young wizard moved his eyes to meet those of Remus, and for a moment looked at him without saying anything. He then looked back out the dark window, remembering things that had been said earlier that day.

"Does Evans ever talk to you," he asked hesitantly, "about Bellatrix?"

The question instantly brought back the memory of the conversation in Herbology that morning. Remus remembered that Sirius had shown special interest in what Bellatrix had said about Lily.

For a few seconds the only sound was the fire at the furnace. The flames flickered and crackled, and some other students entered the Common Room through the portrait. Most of them sat down near the fireplace and began talking, while some headed up to their dorm.

Thinking for a moment, Remus laid down his quill and leaned back in his chair.

"Well…no," he said. "She's never said anything about that. I mean, we all know that Bellatrix doesn't like her, and always acts like a git…but I never realized that she actually devotes time to plotting _against _Lily." He looked down in thought. "She…never talks about it."

At the way Remus answered Sirius turned his head to look at him. His friend's brow was wrinkled in contemplation.

"Don't you two talk a lot?" Sirius asked.

"Well, yeah…but it's always about—" Remus looked up and met Sirius's eyes, then looked away again.

"James?" Sirius prompted.

"Yeah," Remus replied, sighing. "She hates him, and she can't stop talking about just how much. James is a git, an idiot, a prat…and she goes on to say everything he does that makes him so."

Sirius cocked his head in thought. "She's right," he agreed. He noticed Remus chewing his lip, looking dissatisfied.

It was then that it struck him.

"Hold on," he said suddenly.

Remus looked up. Sirius shifted in his chair and leaned forward, squinting at Remus, who stared back. The latter looked curious, waiting to hear what Sirius had just thought of.

Why had he never thought of it before? James really _was_ an idiot. But Remus wasn't. Remus carried every quality that a decent girl could hope for. He could carry conversation without being offensive, made it a habit to demonstrate the manners of a gentleman, and was not in any way a plague to be around…which was terribly the opposite of James. And on top of that, Remus wasn't bad looking. He didn't sport an almost erotic love for his hair (also unlike James). Granted, he wasn't the heartthrob that Sirius knew _he _was…but Remus had the personality of what a girl might consider the perfect man.

Which made him a _much _more likely candidate than James. But…did he know that?

If Remus did, then he knew that he had a much better chance of getting with Lily than their friend did. Did Remus spend his time talking to her because they were friends, or was he playing cards that he knew James didn't have in his deck?

"Do…you…?" Sirius was unable to continue the question, giving Remus the impression that it was a hard day for Sirius to ask anything.

But maybe Remus _didn't _like her in that way. Maybe they really were just friends. It was natural anyway for a girl like Lily to blow off steam while venting to a more bearable person like Remus when a bloke like James was constantly getting on her nerves. In any way, Remus was perfectly capable of just lying and saying they were just friends.

So…how to find out the truth?

A small smirk shaped Sirius's lips as the answer came to him.

Remus might be charming, but Sirius had charms of his own which he was well known for.

Sirius assumed a straighter face and settled back in his chair.

"Nothing…forget it." He looked away, finalizing the revocation of his question.

Remus raised an eyebrow, feeling cheated. He had other things to worry about though. The essay he was currently working on…being a _good _student…Snape…the next full moon.

The table jolted, and Sirius turned his head sharply, jumping as he looked back at Remus, who had leaped up. His head was turned as he gazed up anxiously through the window at the moon high in the dark night sky. Its shape was decreasing, and given a little less than two weeks it would be completely invisible, but then it would come back. In less than a month it would be full again.

"Shit," Remus whispered. Sirius glanced at him, then followed his line of view toward the bright celestial body.

"What am I going to do about _next _full moon?"

…

Severus Snape sat across from Lily, listening earnestly to her as she spoke. They exchanged pleasantries with ease, catching up.

"So, how have you been?" she asked, purposefully fixing her green eyes on his dark ones.

The intention of the question was clear, but he was undaunted.

"Fine," he answered.

"Still sticking with the same crowd, I've noticed," she remarked casually. He watched some of her red tresses fall from her shoulder, thinking of where this subject had gotten them last time.

"Yes." He wasn't sorry for it, though he didn't want to be in Lily's bad books.

She looked away and sighed through her nose, clearly displeased. They were friends, but she was disappointed. She missed him; before they had even come to Hogwarts she had thought they would remain best friends forever.

"I don't know why it bothers you," Severus said. He looked out the window up at the waning moon. Lily thought she heard a bitter tone in his voice. "I have my friends; you have yours."

"What do you mean?" Lily sounded offended. "Severus, I never stopped thinking of you as a friend."

"Seeing as we're in separate Houses, I'm sure you wanted a friend a bit closer and more available," Severus continued. "Which makes Lupin a candidate."

At his final comment Lily rolled her eyes. "Severus, please. You make it sound like an election for the next Minister. I certainly prefer to not be around you when Avery and Mulciber are. And Remus, like you, is a friend. Like Emmeline and Mary. I'm allowed to have more than one, aren't I?"

"Hmph," said Severus, still studying the moon. "Something tells me Lupin would like to be more than a friend."

Severus's words caught her off guard. "Really?"

At her tone Severus looked suspiciously from the moon over to her. She seemed to realize how her response must have sounded, and she assumed a more stoic expression.

He shared her gaze before continuing. "The past few times I've come to talk to you, I find you're already preoccupied. It's always the same person—Lupin."

"Feel free to join us," she invited. "The more, the merrier."

Severus abruptly laughed, and Lily looked less than amused. "Not a saying I believe in, Lily. 'Three's a crowd' is more like it."

"Except when you're with Avery and Mulciber. You just don't like Remus." She looked away, leaning her chin on a palm as she looked out the window.

"Why do you?"

"He's a gentleman," Lily replied, glancing at him. "We just mesh."

"He's hiding something."

Lily looked him in the eye, and he stared back. So he had noticed it too.

"Want to hear what I think?" Severus asked.

…

"The next time I disappear, he'll be totally convinced," said Remus.

He left the table and paced a few steps, chewing the inside of his upper lip. For three whole years he had managed to escape the attention of other students. For some reason now Snape was watching him, and his education at Hogwarts seemed dangerously close to being over. It looked like he had one month left in the castle.

Remus continued to pace thoughtfully, becoming sullen. He then stopped and turned to Sirius, who was watching him, pondering over what to do.

"This is all _your _fault," Remus snarled.

Sirius's eyebrows shot up. "_My _fault?" he said. "Just how?"

"Before you and James started getting nosy, bringing Peter along with you, I was completely invisible. Just another face in the crowd. Then you all had to go and find out. You got to know me. Now we're all part of some big group, and when anyone thinks of you or James, I'm immediately in mind as well. You stole my anonymity. It's totally gone, never to return, and people like Snape are paying attention to me."

Remus glared at him fiercely, and Sirius serenely returned the gaze. The corners of his mouth twitched, causing Remus to be even more irritable.

"Remus," Sirius said, "I'm sorry for wanting to be your friend and stealing your anonymity. If we break up, do you think you'll be able to stay in school?"

"I'd appreciate some valid suggestions, if you don't mind," Remus snapped.

"I don't have any!" Sirius answered, getting serious as he held out his hands in surrender. "Except, I think you really _should _go to Dumbledore. He can give you answers, mate. Not me or anyone else." Sirius locked his dark eyes with Remus's, letting him think it over.

Remus gazed back at him for a moment, considering the idea. After a few seconds he looked away, and his eyes again fell upon the window to outside the castle.

He walked over to the window and looked out from the Gryffindor wing. Outside he could see much of the castle, and also the Quidditch field in the distance to the right. To the left was the Hagrid the gamekeeper's hut, next to the Forbidden Forest.

Three years' worth of memories had been made here. He had made friends, learned exciting things, and managed to live the almost-normal life he had wanted, all thanks to Dumbledore. Could Dumbledore really help him again? What could he possibly do?

"I guess you're right," Remus murmured.

Sirius stared at his form as he stood against the view of the sky under the light of the moon. Remus kept his arms folded across his chest as he thought.

"Aw, Moony," Sirius said in sympathy. "Don't stand there like that. You look so morbid."

The other wizard turned back to him and gave a faint smile.

…

The question was tantalizing…but as much as Lily wanted to hear what Severus thought, she had decided to respect that Remus didn't want her to know. Her last conversation with Remus had led her to realize that she needed to give what respect she wanted from other people.

"I don't think so."

"Really?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're not the least bit curious?"

"Oh, I am," Lily answered. "But as his friend, I'm not going to poke my nose in his business that he doesn't want to share.

"You might consider it your business, and everyone else's, if you were able to pinpoint his disappearances," Severus remarked.

"Well, I'm not going to worry about it," said Lily.

She stood up, bringing an end to the discussion. "It's almost time to be in our Houses. I'm going back."

Severus stood as well, now sorry that they had spent almost the whole time talking on the subject that they did. He hadn't meant for them to spend the discussion disagreeing with each other.

"Good night," Lily told him, giving a faint smile.

"Good night, Lily." He returned it sincerely.

Together they left the library, then they parted in the direction of their separate Houses.

…

Something caused Lily to trip as she stepped through the portrait hole—and she landed right in the arms of none other than Sirius.

"Whoa," he said, his lips shaping into a wide smile as he locked eyes with her. "Hello."

"I—" she gasped, blushing, "—what?" Her brow wrinkled. "Were you just standing here _waiting_?" She tried to steady herself, but for some reason Sirius didn't let go.

"Why would I be waiting for you, Evans?" he asked, his eyes sparkling strangely.

"I—don't—know," she stammered, bewildered at how he was acting. Still he stood with his hands firmly grasping her arms, fully supporting her.

The sound of someone coming down the stairs of the boys' dormitories was heard, and Remus appeared at the bottom.

"Sirius, did I leave my—"

He froze at the sight of Lily leaning on Sirius, who was holding onto her. His mouth opened slightly. Lily blushed even darker. Sirius remained serene, but slackened his hold on Lily.

"…Am I interrupting?" Remus asked with stiffness.

"I tripped!" Lily exclaimed frantically, straightening and stepping away from Sirius. Remus thought he saw Sirius sporting a small smirk as he watched Lily walk away.

"So _weird_," Remus heard Lily mutter as she passed him on the way to the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories. After she was gone, Remus turned back to Sirius, eyeing him. The other boy stood with his arms folded and looked down at the bottom of the portrait hole.

"Tricky step there," he commented. Remus stared, unbelieving.

Sirius made his way over to the staircase, and on the way he picked up Remus's Potions book from the table. When he reached Remus, he handed the book to him.

"Left this, by the way," he said.

Remus took the book from him with a raised eyebrow, and Sirius passed him and continued up the stairs. Remus turned back thoughtfully to the staircase leading up to the girls' dormitories, telling himself that it hadn't bothered him to see Sirius holding Lily.

Not at all.

As he climbed the stairs after Sirius, Remus glanced at the book he clutched in his hand. He was _sure _he had placed it in his bag.

…

At breakfast the next morning Lily stayed with her normal crowd, but her eyes wandered over to the Marauders. Sirius met them several times, and immediately she looked away, pretending she hadn't seen him.

The girls chattered on, and Lily listened silently, or pretended to. She was unable to get the annoying, unnerving Gryffindor wizard out of her head, and she hoped he wouldn't follow up the previous night's disturbing manner.

Sirius Black. _Ugh._

Familiar sounds of Sirius and his friends talking reached Lily's ears. She turned to where they usually sat and could see Sirius smiling and talking.

Lily bit the inside of her lip in though. Just what _had _Sirius been trying to do last night? Was he trying to charm her into falling for him like countless other girls? If he was, it wouldn't work. Unlike everyone else, Lily knew how despicable he was. His self-importance and arrogant attitude was disgusting. Even if he looked good.

Which he _did_.

As Sirius laughed at something James said, Lily blinked. She marveled at her observation as he tore into a muffin like an animal.

_I cannot believe I just thought that_, she said to herself.

Instantly she reproached herself for sharing a mindless declaration of the female mass. Lily tore her eyes away from Sirius Black and tried to think of anything else to put her mind on. Unfortunately, her friend Mary had witnessed her staring thoughtfully at said classmate.

"Lily," said Mary with a raised eyebrow.

Startled, Lily looked up.

"Were you just staring at Sirius Black?" her friend asked.

Emmeline, Dorcas, and Alice all shut up and looked over at Mary and Lily. Lily could feel herself blushing and wished desperately that she could master a more stoic expression.

"…What?"

Mary fought a smirk and thinned her lips before she said, "You _were_, I saw you."

"What?" exclaimed Emmeline.

"I wasn't looking at him like _that_," Lily said through her teeth. "I was marveling at his disgusting eating habits."

The entire group of girls turned to look at Sirius as he engulfed a sausage in a single bite, chewed three times, and swallowed it whole.

"_That's _a stomachache waiting to happen," Mary murmured.

Emmeline, Alice, and Dorcas all giggled. Lily rolled her eyes. Everyone thought Sirius was _so _funny.

"But Lily," Mary said, turning back to her. "You don't think he's attractive?"

Lily glared at her in answer.

"All right," Mary relented, lifting up her hands. "But I don't see why else you would be staring at him. I don't believe you _enjoy _watching boys devour their meals in a hideous manner."

"I was just thinking of last night," Lily surrendered with an enormous sigh.

"So…" Mary voiced, "what _did _happen last night?"

"Well…I came back from the library, and I was going through the portraithole. And I tripped over something in misstep, and there he was to catch me."

"You tripped…" Dorcas said, "like over his foot?" Her brow wrinkled.

"I think he used a jinx or something," replied Lily. "I mean, the way he acted…he seemed like he expected me to fall. And he was being his usual flirty self."

"What'd he say?" Dorcas asked with a grin.

"Oh, I asked him if he had been waiting for me, and he didn't quite answer. He said 'Why would I be waiting for you, Evans?' He kept holding on to me, like he was trying to keep me there until someone saw us…" Lily trailed off, not really wanting to say the rest. "When he finally let me go, I just went up to our dorm as quickly as I could."

Mary stared at Lily, gently swirling a glass of milk in her hand. She chewed her lip thoughtfully, then turned back to study the group of boys.

At the Marauders' table, Remus stared at Sirius while the latter wolfed down a waffle.

"You're _disgusting_," Remus commented.

Sirius looked up as he chewed and met Remus's eyes. He swallowed and sat up with a smirk as Remus stonily glared.

"How?"

Both the previous sight and the scene from last night came to mind.

"More ways than one," Remus replied.

"Oh?"

The smirk on Sirius's face grew. He knew the buttons he was pressing. And Remus's reactions were quite revealing. So far, it looked as though Sirius was _right._

It didn't look as though Remus was indignant for James's sake. Right now Remus was acting like someone had stolen his Chocolate Frog. But Sirius didn't say anything about it because then James would get a clue.

Sirius took a swig of pumpkin juice, and Remus looked away. He made sure not to let his eyes stray to Lily's table; doing so would only allow room for Sirius to pry more, and he didn't feel like making an effort to convince both him _and _James that he had no feelings for Lily.

And he didn't…not that sort of feelings. Lily was a friend, she was just…special.

Remus remembered the conversation they all had had in the library with her. Responsible, bright, charming, kind, trustworthy…Lily possessed almost all of the traits of what Remus thought was an impressive girl. She was definitely too good for Sirius. And James.

Remus chewed the inside of his lip, a habit that had been with him for as long as he could remember. He wondered if it was common among werewolves.

Really, there was only one of the group that he thought could come close to being a good match for Lily: himself. Remus could carry a conversation with her, he respected her, and he was considerate of her. None of the others had a clue how to treat a girl.

Perhaps he should give lessons.

His eyes flickered open wide as the idea struck with what Remus could swear was a sound resembling "ka-ching!" from somewhere.

"Gold," he whispered.

"What's that?" James asked next to him. He glanced at Remus, who had the most uncharacteristic, yet Marauder-worthy look of appetite in his eyes.


End file.
